


The Art of Winking

by HelloHeadquarters



Series: Cryptage Week 2020 [2]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Drinking, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26715682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloHeadquarters/pseuds/HelloHeadquarters
Summary: A drunken night, well, early evening out for the boys with shots, curse words, and failed attempts at winking.Day 2 of #cryptageweek: WINK
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Series: Cryptage Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942780
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	The Art of Winking

**Author's Note:**

> Cryptage Week continues with Day 2: WINK

"Who taught you that?"

Elliott wasn't really listening; his attention was fixed to the screen over his bar.

"Mm? Taught me what?"

Tae Joon edged closer. "That stupid wink."

Elliott did look at him then, one eyebrow slightly cocked. "Its a fucking wink, kid, not hand-to-hand combat. No one 'taught' me it. You just... do it."

Tae Joon edged closer still, looking up at the screen. He'd been the focus of every ad campaign for a couple of weeks now due to his one year anniversary in the Games coming up, and he was handling it pretty well, Elliott thought, as Tae Joon tried to rest an elbow on the bar and missed.

Of course, the kid was also fucking drunk.

"How?" Tae Joon pressed.

"You just, I dunno, blink with one - whoa, whoa, hang on, wait a second. You _know_ how to fucking wink. You did it to me, back there on the train!"

Tae Joon smirked. "Oh yeah," he said. His smirk turned into a giggle and soon Elliott was watching with raised eyebrows while Tae Joon bent double with laughter, pressing both hands on the bar.

"S'not that funny," Elliott muttered. 

"A... aim..." Tae Joon choked out between snorts. 

"Alright, I'm cutting you off," Elliott said, walking around Tae Joon and back behind the bar. 

"Aiming," Tae Joon eventually managed to gasp out. 

"What?"

"I wasn't winking," Tae Joon said, still sucking in harsh breaths as his fit subsided. "I was aiming."

"Come again?"

Tae Joon managed to lift his head to look Elliott in the eye. "You know." He lifted his arms and mimicked shouldering a rifle. "Aiming. At thingy."

"Caustic?"

"Yeah, that bastard."

"You were aiming."

Tae Joon was looking at Elliott now as if he'd just crawled out from under his shoe. He swayed on the spot and then leaned forward. "Can't wink," he whispered, like it was some massive fucking secret. 

"There's a difference?"

"Yeah. Course."

"Well then, how about you aim and call it winking?" Elliott suggested. 

Tae Joon considered this. "Not supposed to point a gun at people you're winking at. Mixed signals."

"Pretend gun," Elliott countered. 

Tae Joon shook his head. "Shouldn't mime either. Sends only one signal, but a really bad one."

"Well, of course you don't do the fucking actions," Elliott lamented. 

"So... aim, while unarmed and completely still?"

Elliott blinked at him a few times.

"Alright, you got me, that sounds ridiculous." Elliott thumped his fists against the edge of the bar in a quick rhythm. "Hold on, I've got it," he said with a snap of his fingers.

"You do?"

"You said you can't point a weapon at them, right? But what's one weapon that's pretty much sen- synin, synomo- ah, fuck it," Elliott spat impatiently. "Finger guns! Winks and finger guns, like peaches and cream baby."

Tae Joon lifted his hands and looked at them like he'd never seen them before. "Sounds stupid."

Elliott waved a hand at him. "Whatever. Live the life of the winkless, see if I give a shit."

"No, no, I'm sorry," Tae Joon said quickly, grabbing Elliott's forearm over the bar. "I'm listening."

Elliott shook his head. "For what? Not gonna stand here and teach you to make your hands into the shape of gun. Guns." Ok, so maybe Elliott was not exactly sober himself. He'd only brought the kid here to relax because he'd been stomping around the others with a face like thunder and the attitude to match. That did not mean, however, that Elliott couldn't also get ever so slightly trashed. 

He made his own attempt at a finger gun and instead gave Tae Joon a thumbs up. "Wait... no... hang on. I fucked that up. Wait a sec."

Tae Joon actually did, resting his chin in his hands as Elliott pointed at him clumsily. 

"You didn't wink," Tae Joon informed him in a heavy voice. 

"I didn't? Fuck. Ok, ok I got it this time."

Elliott blinked. 

Tae Joon shook his head. "Nope. And you didn't do the..." Tae Joon graced Elliott with his own finger guns, which were much better.

"You did it!" Elliott exclaimed.

Tae Joon looked mildly offended. "Never said I couldn't," he muttered. 

"Yes you did," Elliott protests with a slight hiccup. 

"Did I though?"

Elliott screwed up his nose in thought. "It was imper- implicit. You implicked it."

"Well I didn't mean to," Tae Joon replied, swaying on the spot. 

Elliott waved his hands. "Whatever." He took a small shot of something clear from the bar and knocked it back. "Hit me."

"Hit you?" Tae Joon looked a little concerned. 

"Not... not literally. I mean, show me what ya got, Cryppy, let's go. Finger guns. Winking. Whole nine." He gave Tae Joon a 'come at me' gesture. "Come on man, charm my pants off."

He squared himself behind the bar and Tae Joon, with a small shrug, flipped him off with a smirk. 

"Ah, fuck you," Elliott replied, but he was laughing as he slammed down two clean shot glasses and filled them.

"Thought you were cutting me off?" Tae Joon asked as he watched the liquid being poured as if he'd been hypnotized. 

"Oh yeah," Elliott responded, shoving the glass towards him. "Last one. Then I think we should go. Place opens soon."

"So? Doesn't mean we have to leave."

"Means people though."

Tae Joon's face darkened. "Right. Fair enough."

They both downed their shots and pulled a face at the burn. The clatter as they dropped their glasses back on the bar echoed through the place like a gunshot. 

"I still think you're lying," Elliott muttered as he lifted up the hatch and emerged from behind the bar. 

"Probably," Tae Joon said with a small wobble as he turned around. "About what?"

Elliott grabbed his arm and began to lead him through to the back door. "About the winking thing. I mean, who the fuck can't wink?"

Tae Joon waved a hand. "Lots of people. I assume," he muttered, suppressing a small burp. 

They spilled out into the alley just as a light, misting rain began to fall. The cool air was a welcome relief against the heat of the bar and the alcohol currently chasing around their systems. 

"Thanks," Tae Joon said as they made their way towards to street. He peeled off to go the other way but Elliott grabbed him by the back of his coat and pulled him back to his side.

"Where d'ya think you're going?" he demanded. 

"Home?" Tae Joon chanced, like he might have gotten it wrong. 

"Guess again, kid," Elliott drawled, flinging an arm around Tae Joon's shoulders. 

Tae Joon looked over to Elliott's hand draped lightly on his shoulders and pulled a face at it. "I don't play guessing games."

Elliott dragged Tae Joon in a little closer to him and leaned down to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. "You just won the jackpot, sweetheart, because you're coming home with me."

Tae Joon nudged his elbow sharply into Elliott's ribs. "No I'm not," he said.

Elliott let go of him and held up his hands. "I live two blocks from here and my spare room is like a fucking palace. Silk sheets, king size, mini fridge, the works." He stopped walking to point at Tae Joon. "No one even knows where the hell you live but I bet it's just like... eight laptops and a fuck ton of take out cartoons."

"Is not," Tae Joon answered a little too quickly. 

Elliott snorted. "Don't worry about your honour or anything. No way I'm interested in a guy who can't even fucking _wink_."

They stumbled back to Elliott's and immediately fell into their respective beds without a word, even though it was still extremely early in the evening. Tae Joon woke up with the sun, still fully dressed right down to his boots, his face unpleasantly squashed against the mattress.

"Ugh," he groaned as he pushed himself up and tried to remember where the hell he was.

Shots. Finger guns. Winking. _Elliott_. Fuck. 

He dragged himself out of the bed and wobbled to the door, leaning heavily against the frame while he waited for the room to stop spinning. Tae Joon had never been a big drinker, but the cumulative stress of being in the spotlight for a week had pushed him to gratefully accept Elliott's offer to head to the bar pre-opening and wind down with a few cocktails. Why Elliott had offered in the first place was a mystery, but Tae Joon's anxiety was becoming overwhelming and distracting by that point so he hadn't much cared. 

He was quickly aware of his pressing need for the bathroom and he stumbled, one hand clutching onto his extremely messy hair, the other running along the wall for support, towards a likely looking door. 

Elliott opened it just as he reached for the handle, releasing a fog of steam into the hall that dissipated to reveal the man himself wearing nothing but a faded pink towel at his waist. 

"Oh, hey," Elliott said quickly, hunching over in a vain attempt to cover himself up. 

"I need-" Tae Joon began, pointing behind him. Elliott stepped aside at once. 

"Right. Of course. Go right ahead man. And there's towels and stuff if you wanna use the shower."

Tae Joon shot him a quick nod of gratitude and bolted into the bathroom while Elliott went to get dressed. He left some clothes in the spare room as well, before going to make breakfast.

-

Tae Joon sat down sheepishly at the counter, both looking and smelling a lot fresher. Elliott placed a glace of orange juice in front of him along with a small stack of pancakes.

"Don't eat 'em if you can't but if you can, they'll help," Elliott instructed him as he began to look through his cupboards.

Tae Joon, dressed in an official Bamboozle t-shirt and black sweatpants, threw Elliott a look. "You seem alright," he muttered as his head throbbed at him. 

"First of all, you're a lightweight, no doubt about it. I also didn't have as much as you though. Makes it easier to, you know..." Elliott shrugged and looked away. "Take care of you or whatever."

Tae Joon felt a small flush run through him but he smiled anyway. "Well, then thank you. For both taking me out and looking after me now, which I must say, you're rather good at."

Elliott lit up at the praise. "Hey man, I own a bar. Taking care of the drunk - and recently drunk - is kinda my specialty."

Tae Joon shook his head with a smile and picked up his fork as Elliott continued to clatter around the kitchen. After a few moments, Elliott came to a stop and slammed his hands on the counter before turning to face Tae Joon. 

"It's no good, I gotta know," he said, moving closer. "Can you really not wink?"

Tae Joon laughed. "Of course I can. I winked at you on the train."

"Oh you son of a- I knew it!" Elliott exclaimed, throwing a dish towel at him. 

Tae Joon batted it away with his hand. "I was just... what's the expression... busting your pork chops?"

Elliott looked to the ceiling. "Bastard," he muttered with a smile. "Guess you think you're pretty funny?"

Tae Joon held Elliott's gaze for all of three seconds. Then, with a wicked smile blossoming on his face, he winked at him.


End file.
